Quest: Slight Navigational Error [Ended]

[Dark]

Almost before he was done talking, Minh was turning around and trotting back the way she came--she had been milling about on pier seven, and if she had hope of getting to pier two before the Whistler made sail than she would have to take it at a run. If she could get through the crowds, that was.

"Coming through! Watch out!" She hustled by people, ignoring the angry shouts trailing behind her, and using all of her flexibility to avoid any real disasters. She'd still managed to scrap her knee and bruise her elbow, though, and she was panting when she skidded onto dock two.

There was only one ship with any real hustle-and-bustle going on. It was the Whistler.

She waved down the important looking guy with the clip board--the dock master, maybe?

"I'm looking for Captain Les; it's rather important."

[The Jenn]

The horse looked up from his scribbling and eyed the human woman who was jogging up to him, his mind still half-distracted by all of the numbers flying through it, trying to add themselves up while he was wondering just why he was being bothered. He forced himself to focus briefly, annoyed at shifting the train of thought.

"Captain Les? She's on board her ship, getting ready to cast off." He made a gesture with the clipboard towards the Whistler. "You want to speak to her, you'll have to get up there in a hurry and make your business brief, or wait on her return voyage in maybe a week's time. Personally, I'd suggest the latter. Unless you have a good piece of business to press, she isn't going to want to speak to you, human or not. Now if you'll excuse me..."

Question answered, he turned his attention back to his work and started to walk off.

[Dark]

Minh huffed--some people were so rude--and forced herself up the gang plank, avoiding sailors and cargo, and landed on the deck. She stopped on the deck, feeling just a little bit enchanted as she watched the sailers buzz over the tack and felt the ocean gently lapping at the haul. This is what she'd always dreamed about.

Captain Les was an impressive looking woman with a self-assured bearing. Minh liked her immediately.

"Captain Les? Sorry to interrupt you in the middle of loading up, but Bettine sent me your way. I'm hoping to book passage to Fisher's Cove, and I'm willing to pay or work for passage--whatever you'd prefer."

If Captain Les turned her away, Minh wasn't quite sure what she would do--maybe she would just hang around port for that week or so until the Whistler made port and try again. Exploring the docks and markets more extensively would certainly be enjoyable.

[Kiki]

Dark and Jenn receive 1 token each, to be redeemed in Ashwin's Shoppe. This will automatically be added to your recorded totals in the shoppe. Congratulations, and keep up the good RP!

[The Jenn]

A Midori ermine with a more subdued pink and green coat, Les turned her head around to regard this stranger who was on her ship and throwing Bettine's name around. Damned woman, had she sent her a hopeful crew member or something daft like that? No... a paying customer. Passage. To... Fisher's Cove.

Well now, if that wasn't just damned convenient, with the exception of the last-minute timing. "I have questions for you then, and answer them quickly. We're in a bit of a hurry." That last bit was said in a sharp, sarcastic tone. "One, what's your name? Two, how d'you know Bettine? Three, what are you good at? It's all well and good to say you'll work, but unless we have need of your skills, it'll be all gold, up front. You're lucky in your destination, since that's where we're headed regardless. Got a couple of idiots to pick up at port."

[Dark]

Minh liked Captain Les immediately; liked her attitude. It reminded her quite a lot of her roommate, though Minh doubted that Captain Les was an incarnation of pure evil. Mnem was just that kind of person.

"Minh Thi D'Allesio, at your service. Er...I should probably pay for passage, all things considered; I have better luck with blowing things up, than with being constructive. And--I don't know Bettine very well; we talked briefly when I stayed at the inn she works at. Seemed like a nice girl; she highly recommended you."

She sidestepped one of the crewmen as he bustled by, carrying a rather heavy looking crate, and reached for the poach she kept her coinage in. She made sure to count out the smallest coins; a person never could be too sure who was watching, and she didn't exactly trust the company she was keeping. Not with her money, anyway.

"How much for passage?"

[The Jenn]

The woman snorted and shook her head. "Blowing things up is the last thing I'm going to allow on my ship unless we're being attacked and those things happen to be the bastards who are doing it." The price she quoted was high but not terribly unreasonable, considering that the woman would basically be lounging around while the rest of them did work until they got where they were going.

Fisher's Cove. Heh. So named because no honest fisherman would ever sail near it if they valued their ship and their haul. When the coin was counted out, she accepted it and recounted it to the last, paranoid but often with good reason. The amount correct, she pocketed the money in a flash and made an ironically polite bow to the human woman considering her previous attitude. "Welcome aboard the Whistler then, Miss Minh Thi D'Allesio. If you'd kindly find somewhere unobstrusive to stand, we have last-minute preparations to make before we can cast off."

So saying, she turned around and snarled something to a man behind her about a passenger and telling the crew, then strode off to another part of the ship. Within five minutes, they had set sail. They really had been that close.

((There's a link and diagram to the ship base I'm using in Zuberi's thread, if you want to poke it for ideas. <3))

[Dark]

Having achieved her purpose, Minh felt like a buoy that had just had its line cut. It was a poor-humored analogy, but considering her current circumstances she couldn't help but feel she wouldn't find anything more apt to describe it. She was more than a little lost, a stationary humoniod-shaped obstacle in the way of a great many busy, loud, swaggering sailors with tasks to do and little time in which to do it.

As Captain Les has suggested, she found the least obtrusive corner she could; towards the front of the ship, up towards the figurehead--a rather ghastly looking sea sprite that gave off a faint murmur whenever a gust of wind brushed its cracked lips--on a part of the upper deck she thought might be called the forecastle, if she remembered anything from her brief inquiry into sailing vessels. She'd never bothered to sort out all the technical terms, and at the moment she really wished she had.

She watched with interest at the sailors tacked the sails, and the ship slowly ambled out of the bay. It wasn't until they were well underway, the port a hazy blur of soot smeared across the horizon, that she moved from her spot and inquired as politely as she could of a passing sailor where she'd be sleeping.

[The Jenn]

The sailor paused in his walking and looked down at her with a slight frown. He was a short vermin, a rat, with balding patches on his hands and eyebrows. "You're the passenger someone shouted out about? If you mean where you're sleeping tonight, you should probably ask the captain. Fisher's Cove is about a day an' a half's travel from this port so there'll be one night's rest in between. If you're not used to the islands around these parts, most of them are fairly close together. If it takes two days to travel from one to its neighbor, it's a rarity."

He had a coil of rope in his hand and pulled it taut, expression turning slightly more personable. "An' of course, the fun bit will be in staying the next night at the inn on the island. Great crappy beer, good company, and just enough rats to keep the other vermin at bay."

[Dark]

Minh managed to quirk a smile, and thanked the sailor before wandering in the opposite direction. She admired Captain Les, but the feline didn't feel exactly comfortable with bothering such a self-possessed woman with trifling details. And, of course, she would much rather spend her time up on deck enjoying the salty breeze and the clear sky than holed up in some stuffy cupboard for the duration of her time on the Whistler.

Mindful to stay out of the way, she watched the sailors work all the way up until dusk, even going so far as securing a bit of spare tact and practicing the knots she watched them use to secure the rigging. It was harder than it looked.

The first stars were just starting to come up when she figured she might as well find somewhere to bed down for the night, and she headed in the direction she thought she remembered seeing a large coil of rope. It would work nicely if she shifted to her animal form.

She fell asleep to the groaning of the ship.